Wow, I really love Silvia!  It started with first unpacking her, and being impressed with the shine of her chromed finish and sleak lines.  And now that I'm getting both consistantly good shots and good froth volume and texture, I look forward to making every Espresso, Cappa and Latté.

To put it bluntly, there is a rather large learning curve with Silvia.  It took me over 4 months to get consistant shots, but now I'm in the groove and loving it.

This is one serious Espresso machine!  

Although most of my shots from Silvia have tasted better than my previous machine I had some problems with consistanly getting decent shots.  Along with everyone else, I recommend a good burr grinder, fresh coffee and a minimum 30# tamp.  One other problem that I encountered was the alluminum tamper I bought from 1st Line properly fit my Rancilio filter basket, but hit the rim of the LM filter basket.  I ground it down a little, and now I get a good tamp.  Still a relatively short (18-22 seconds) shot though, but I'm still working on it.

I stongly recommend Silvia for anyone.  For those that aren't upgrading from a similar system, be ready for some experimentation in order to get consistantly good shots over the first few months.  Whatever you do, don't get discouraged as you'll really love the quality of shot you'll be getting at home.

Just like many people who may read this review, I did a lot of research before making a purchase.  I saw enough positive notes on what 1st Line was like to deal with, and checked out their web site (multiple times).  When I was ready to order, 1st Line was great to deal with and delivered immediately.